territorial dispute on south china

Territorial Disputes on south china

sea and Legal grounds

United Nations Convention on the

Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

United Nations Convention on the

Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) lays down a

comprehensive regime of law and order in the world's oceans and seas establishing rules governing all uses of the oceans and their resources.

It enshrines the notion that all problems of ocean space are closely interrelated and need to be addressed as a whole.

UNCLOSHistorical Backgrou

nd

10 December 1982 in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

It was negotiated during the 1970’s and early 1980’s in response to several destabilizing trends in the marine time domain, all of which remain present in the South China Sea (West Philippines Sea) sates to that convention.On 16 November 1994, 12 months after the date of deposit of the sixtieth instrument of ratification or accession.

What are those legal moves or

action made by the Philippine

government in settle territorial

dispute?

Legal Framework

1982 United Nation Convention Law Of the Sea Statutory Laws e.g. Republic Act 3046 (1961) as amended by Republic Act 5446 or the Philippine Baselines Law – established Philippine baselines and basepoints; the P.D. No. 1599 which established the EEZ of the Philippines extending to a distance of 200 nm. from the baselines of the Philippine archipelago; R.A. 9522 sspecifically defined and described the baselines of the Philippine archipelago; and the Administrative Order No. 29 in which the maritime areas on the western side of the Philippine archipelago are hereby named as the West Philippine Sea. These areas include the Luzon Sea as well as the waters around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo De Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal.2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DoC)

Preventive measures used by the International

Organization

•Building a Multilateral Framework •International Arbitration

•Building a Multilateral Framework The development of a multilateral, binding code of conduct between China and ASEAN countries is often cited as a way of easing territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

International Arbitration Bringing territorial disputes to an international legal body presents another means of conflict mitigation. The International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea are two forums where claimants can file submissions for settlement.  

Baselines

UNCLOS articles 5 and 7 specify that the baselines are normally the low water line along the coastal states.

Article 7 provides a very limited set of circumstances to allow coastal states to deviate from the normal rule,

primarily or fringing islands along the immediate vicinity of the coastline such as exist deeply indented coastal

inlets such as the fjords of Norway, or fringing islands along the immediate vicinity of the coastline such as exist

along the southwestern coast of the Korean peninsula. Article 47 allows states comprised entirely of islands with

no mainland territory known as archipelagic states to draw baselines around the outermost edge of their islands and to claim a special status for and to exercise a higher

degree of authority over the enclosed waters.

A key point about the regime of baselines is that they are to be drawn based on exclusively

on the state’s coastal geography. This geographic regime was established to ensure order to the process of establishing maritime

claims by expressing them from a uniform set of open and undeniable features.

Declaration on the conduct of parties in south china sea

1. It reaffirms the parties’ commitment to international law , including UNCLOS;

2. It commits the parties to explore ways to build trust and confidence among them, based on equality and mutual respect;

4. It commits the parties to respect the freedom of navigation and overflight in south china sea.

5. It commits the parties to resolve territorial and jurisdictional disputes without the threat or use of force;

6. And it commits the parties to refrain from inhabiting presently inhabited islands.

Exclusive Economic

Zone (EEZ)

The most important UNCLOS framework designed to

achieve maritime security and stability is the regime of the Exclusive Economic Zone

(EEZ).

The EEZ was designed to reduced disputes over the

resources in the water column and to the resources of the seabed out in 200 nautical

miles from the coastal state’s baselines.

PART IV - ARCHIPELAGIC STATESArticle47

Archipelagic baselines

1. An archipelagic State may draw straight archipelagic baselines joining the outermost points of the outermost islands and drying reefs of the archipelago provided that within such baselines are included the main islands and an area in which the ratio of the area of the water to the area of the land, including atolls, is between 1 to 1 and 9 to 1.

2. The length of such baselines shall not exceed 100 nautical miles, except that up to 3 per cent of the total number of baselines enclosing any archipelago may exceed that length, up to a maximum length of 125 nautical miles.

3. The drawing of such baselines shall not depart to any appreciable extent from the general configuration of the archipelago.

4. Such baselines shall not be drawn to and from low-tide elevations, unless lighthouses or similar installations which are permanently above sea level have been built on them or where a low-tide elevation is situated wholly or partly at a distance not exceeding the breadth of the territorial sea from the nearest island.

5. The system of such baselines shall not be applied by an archipelagic State in such a manner as to cut off from the high seas or the exclusive economic zone the territorial sea of another State.

6. . If a part of the archipelagic waters of an archipelagic State lies between two parts of an immediately adjacent neighbouring State, existing rights and all other legitimate interests which the latter State has traditionally exercised in such waters and all rights stipulated by agreement between those States shall continue and be respected.

7. For the purpose of computing the ratio of water to land under paragraph l, land areas may include waters lying within the fringing reefs of islands and atolls, including that part of a steep-sided oceanic plateau which is enclosed or nearly enclosed by a chain of limestone islands and drying reefs lying on the perimeter of the plateau.

Any Questions?

The End…